Jafar Panahi Facing Five Years Imprisonment in Iran After Being Sentenced in Absentia

Oscar-nominated Iranian director Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident) has been sentenced in absentia to five years and one month in prison by an Islamic Revolutionary Court in Iran.

According to independent film journalist Mansour Jahani, based in Tehran, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court also ordered the confiscation of all movable and immovable assets belonging to Panahi, along with a two-year travel ban and a two-year ban on social media activities.

Mansour told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday that the Oscar-nominated director, who is currently in Iran, had been sentenced in absentia as part of a new court judgment against the longtime Iranian political activist, and that he had not yet been imprisoned.

The Iranian director’s return to his country followed a government crackdown that led to the deaths of thousands of people taking part in countrywide anti-government protests. It also coincided with the U.S. and Israel launching a war against Iran, which is ongoing and has ripple effects across the Middle East.

Uncertainty continues to shroud the legal proceedings against Panahi in Iran. Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court had ordered a retrial for Panahi after he was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and a two-year ban from filmmaking. Panahi at the time was outside of Iran, promoting It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar in the best international feature category, representing France.

According to Mansour, Mostafa Nili, Jafar Panahi’s lawyer, reported that his client’s bank accounts were frozen last week. And on visiting the Enforcement of Judgments unit at the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office, Panahi and his lawyer learned that a new judgment had been issued against him in absentia and without prior legal notice.

Nili added that Panahi, who returned to Iran in March 2026, appeared before Branch 16 of the Investigation Office at the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office last month in another case, and that the director currently has three open legal cases.

Panahi has been arrested and imprisoned in Iran on a host of occasions in the past. In 2020, he was sentenced to six years in prison, along with a 20-year ban on filmmaking, screenwriting and traveling abroad. In July 2022, he was arrested to serve this sentence and transferred to Evin Prison. After seven months in prison, Panahi was released in Feb. 2023.

In December 2025, this filmmaker was also sentenced to one year in prison and received additional punitive measures on charges of “propaganda activity against the system.” That verdict was upheld by the Iranian Revolutionary Court after an appeal.

Despite his run-ins with the Iranian authorities, Panahi continues to make movies. Those include The White Balloon, which won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. His film The Circle won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2000, and his film Taxi earned the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2015.